From a photograph by Solomon D. Butcher of four daughters of rancher Joseph M. Chrisman, at their sod house in Custer County, Nebraska. From left to right, Harriet, Elizabeth, Lucie, and Ruth. Photographed in 1886.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Yellow Maple Leaves Make Me Happy

How does yellow make you feel?

Our old sugar maple has taken on its autumn color. It's always very, very yellow.

I am mildly fond of yellow, in subdued tints and shades, but I do not like a lot of intense yellow in my clothing or my home. However, I think this tree is beautiful, and when I stand beneath it and bathe in its golden glow for a few minutes, I feel happy.

The yellow color of these leaves brings back some nice memories of the kids raking up huge heaps of leaves and jumping into them from their swing. Our old kitty, Happy, who was young then, loved playing in the leaves too. He liked to be covered up, and then to spring out and "surprise" everyone.

My happy feelings about these yellow leaves made me wonder what the psychological effect of yellow is supposed to be. I won't claim that I conducted exhaustive research, but I did read a few webpages on the topic of color psychology, and here's what I found. Negative effects are noted in italics.

Yellow in the American culture: Sunny, cheerful, inspiring, high spirit,caution, cowardice (Source)

IT IS STILL BEST to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasure; and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong.(Laura Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957)